With the regular season just about over, it’s time to hand out the annual awards.
MVP and Rookie of the Year are forgone conclusions: it’s LeBron James and Damian Lillard’s to lose. Case closed.
It gets much murkier after that, though, as no one else has truly separated themselves to be called unanimous candidates to win any particular award.
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This fact did not stop Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert – who may be a strong candidate to win the Defensive Player of the Year award – from declaring that his teammate Paul George needs to make an All-NBA team:
It’s fair for Hibbert to believe that George deserves to be on that list somewhere: the forward has vastly improved his game and took over as the team’s best wing player on both ends of the floor after missing Danny Granger for most of the season due to knee issues. Indiana simply wouldn’t be the team they are – the best team in the Central Division – without his presence.
The question is, who does George have to beat to get on the list? Lets have a look at who is likely to make the teams:
Tim Duncan is extremely likely to be All-NBA 1st or 2nd team CENTER so the analysis becomes flawed right at that point. That leads to Blake Griffin making the 2nd team.
Al Horford has likewise played center all season and will get his All-NBA votes there. He isn’t part of the equation.
David Lee is more likely to make the cut over Zach Randolph, so you are right that the last spot is likely to come down to Randolph and George.
FWIW
Win Shares
19.3 LeBron James
18.9 Kevin Durant
10.8 Blake Griffin
9.5 Carmelo Anthony
9.4 Serge Ibaka (quietly had an incredible year and gets barely any credit)
9.1 Paul George
9.1 David West (I don’t believe he is any less worthy than George)
8.8 Lee
7.6 Randolph (shouldn’t really be in the discussion)
Thanks for your input. Duncan has started every game as a power forward this season so you’re off there, but you do have a case with Horford – he has played 58 games at center and just 16 games at PF. Also, good point about Serge Ibaka. He does deserve more recognition.